Police forces need assurance on officer numbers, says Assembly

The Home Office has announced recruitment targets for each police force, with the Metropolitan Police expected to recruit 1,369 officers by 2020/21.



While there has been no clarity over how many officers the Met will be expected to recruit in the subsequent two years, if the 1,369 figure were to be sustained, by 2023 the Met would still fall short of the number of officers asked for by the Assembly, Mayor and Commissioner.

Today, the London Assembly called on the Government to agree to a sustained funding settlement for the police forces of England and Wales.

Unmesh Desai AM, who proposed the motion said:

“Last month, the Met Police were left short-changed once again with the Government’s Police Funding Settlement and this is likely to significantly hamper their ability to plan ahead.

“There is no escaping the reality that whilst we have been given the funding for over a thousand much-needed more police officers for our capital, the Government have patently failed to reverse the decade of cuts they have made to the Met’s budget.

“With the huge challenges that our police forces continue to face, especially when it comes to the scourge of violent crime, it is absolutely vital that they can put in place and finance long-term strategic plans. With this in mind, the Government must now agree to introduce a multi-year funding settlement for the Met and all other police forces in England and Wales.”

The full text of the motion is:

This Assembly welcomes the Government’s announced ambition to recruit 20,000 police officers throughout England and Wales.

This Assembly notes that the Government announced £750 million of funding to support the introduction of these new officers, and that the Assembly called for 5,000 of the officers to be allocated to London; the Commissioner and Mayor have since called for 6,000.

This Assembly further notes that the Home Office has announced recruitment targets for each police force, with the Metropolitan Police expected to recruit 1,369 officers by 2020/21. While there has been no clarity over how many officers the Met will be expected to recruit in the subsequent two years, if the 1,369 figure were to be sustained, by 2023 the Met would still fall short of the number of officers asked for by the Assembly, Mayor and Commissioner.

This Assembly concurs with the Police Federation of England and Wales that police forces must be provided with a multiyear funding settlement in order to make their own long term, strategic plans to battle crime and support our communities.

This Assembly therefore calls upon the Government to agree to a sustained funding settlement for the police forces of England and Wales, to give the Mayor assurance that he can recruit the police officers that London needs in the knowledge that he will have secure funding for them in the years ahead.